With my 1st labour, I thought it was a false alarm because it took quite a few hours for the contractions to become really painful and they didn't seem very regular.

I got DP to record the time and length of each contraction for an hour or two before I realised that they'd moved from 15mins to 8 mins apart and were regular. I counted my labour from when DP started recording.

With my other 2, I thought "Oh, this feels familiar!" and just knew, and started timing from then.

I'd suggest that once you get a couple of braxton hicks that hurt a bit, check the time and, if you're unsure, write down the time each one starts to see if there's a pattern. (Of course if your labour is progressing quickly, you'll know straight away!)

When the hospital recorded the length of my labour they went from 'active labour' - strong contractions 2 mins apart. Based on that my labour was just under 6 hours. If I counted from first contraction (which I didn't know at the time was labour) it would have been around 11 hours.

Everyone says you will just know when you're in labour. For me it wasn't until contractions were too painful to sit through and 2 mins apart that I realised that was it - I'd be having a baby very soon! I'd been having mild contractions a good 4 or 5 hours before that, but I fobbed them off as just late pregnancy aches and pains.

I timed from active labour, which was 5hours with my first, 20min with my second. Before the active labour started, I had some mild contractions, hind water leak, I knew labour was nearing, but didn't include all that.

I usually say 30 hours - that's from contractions being regular and 5 min or less apart (had them building for three hours previous and it was only then that they were regular and getting closer together). I checked in at the hospital when they were 3 min apart (to find out I was only 1/2 cm dilated). I definitely count before 4cm, as it was nearly 24 hours and having my waters broken before I made it to 4cm (and still another 7 hours before she came). But, yes, I had also heard 'active labour' is from 4cm.

I knew within 3 hours that it was definitely labour - I didn't have one strong contraction and go 'Right, this is it'.

I think most women count from their first contraction (in hindsight, because you often don't realise at the time that its actually all systems go). Hospitals/caregivers tend to count from 'active' labour, which for my hospital was regular established contractions at least 5 minutes apart.

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